We have some local scoundrels, who also tend to be entangled in the right-wing Christianist nonsense. One of the notorious kook/thieves in these parts was Robert Beale, a multi-millionaire tax evader who has just been convicted. The story features arcane, desperate legalisms this wacko used to avoid paying taxes — did you know that if you live outside the District of Columbia and U.S. Islands, you are a non-resident alien, according to the Constitution, according to Beale?
This dishonest, greedy sleaze deserves one thing from us: our prayers. On this National Day of Prayer, pray ferociously for Robert Beale.
Oh god… I think I’m having an orgasm.
These stories are making me wonder how Ted Haggard’s doing these days. But not enough to research it.
Do atheists have the numbers to shift the culture meaning of “I’ll pray for you” to “I won’t lift a finger to help you?” I doubt it, but I long to see the day when an offer to pray for someone is taken as an insult.
Nah, he deserves choice epithets, denunciations, and exposure.
Only if the prayer has these, and is public, will I pray for him.
He deserves worse than voiced pieties ostensibly in his favor.
Glen Davidson
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
I realize some of your atheist readers might not know how to pray for God’s will. With that in mind I will provide a demonstration:
“Dear lord, please do today whatever it is you had planned to do before you heard from me. Amen.”
Glad I could help and you’re welcome!
Boris
“When Beale was arrested in November at a strip mall in Orlando, Fla., he was carrying a fake passport and driver’s license issued from “The Kingdom of Heaven,” something he had copied off the Internet.”
Wow. Documentation issued by the Kingdom of Heaven. How… Bizarre.
Poor poor poor Vox Day.
Vox Day’s father, of course, who instilled a love of unwarrantably arrogant batshit-craziness .
I suppose you all already know this but I’ll say it for those who don’t; Robert Beale is the father of Ted Beale, otherwise known as VoxDay.
Dear Jesus,
Robert Beale is a good man who has done nothing but serve you. You have told us that they are blessed who are persecuted, but please open the blessings of Heaven upon Robert Beale even more. Please do not deprive him of the company of his son.
Amen
This story is not about Vox Day. If you want to pray for Vox, though, please do. Pray lots. Pray like a son-of-a-gun.
OT, but Stein is catching hell from the national media for his hatred of science:
Yes, and IDists are intent upon doing science, according to him. I
guess I can see where someone might confuse IDists and Nazis, since
neither would allow freedom. And Stein obviously doesn’t know the
difference between a real scientist and a Nazi, indicating what a
buffoon he is.
Well, I’m just glad it’s getting out there. As usual, such publicity
and controversy may actually help the movie to sell, but it sure makes
ID look stupid, anti-science, and just plain evil.
Glen Davidson
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
I’ll echo Dustin’s prayer. It’s a good one.
Surely there is a fifty acre island somewhere in the south Pacific with his name on the door of the hut.
OK, here’s what I want to know: what the hell happened to Rebecca Beale, Vox’s mom? As recently as five-six years ago she and Vox’s dad were still married. Now she’s dropped out of the picture and Robert Beale has a fiancee/common law wife. So what happened to poor Rebecca? Did her misogynist son or husband off her? Did she die? Did she divorce Robert Beale and get a nice settlement? Anyone know?
Oh it is. Very bizarre. Check out embassy of heaven. I don’t know if he’s involved with them, but damn.
They offer Driver’s Licenses, Passports, etc..
wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiingnuttery goodness.
So, if we pray for these guys and something improves in their lives, can we then cite it as proof that god only listens to atheist prayers?
H.H.Do atheists have the numbers to shift the culture meaning of “I’ll pray for you” to “I won’t lift a finger to help you?” I doubt it, but I long to see the day when an offer to pray for someone is taken as an insult.
We could try “speaking as an atheist I will be sure to remember you in my prayers”
Maybe Beale will end up sharing a cell with Wesley Snipes, and they can write the plot of the next “Blade” movie, wherein Blade and Beale discover that the IRS is a vampire cabal, and bring the pain to the bloodsucking bean-counters, ushering in a Ron Paul Presidency.
Nentuaby wrote:
Wow. Documentation issued by the Kingdom of Heaven. How… Bizarre.
I bet it’s a very impressive piece of ID, with a big Jesus H. Christ signature at the bottom.
Didn’t Kent Hovind try a variation of this “no federal jurisdiction outside of DC” argument to get out of paying his taxes?
When some one offers to pray for me, I usually tell them I will dance naked under the oaks on the next full moon for them.
Often the response is “What good will that do?”
Some day they will get the point.
Adrienne–
Considering the revolting misogynist and rape supporter their son turned out to be, I’d prefer to know as little about that marriage as possible.
Hmm, the ol’ reverse psychology trick, eh Boris? Well, it’s worth a shot: the Designer of the prostate gland doesn’t seem all that bright.
#16: The best was the guide in there on Going to Jail.
O_o
I’m lovin’ all this praying today!
Especially about this local nut. Wonderful.
However, I really am glad this is only
one day, it’s exhausting to be doing all
these good works. I have so much more to
do than pray. Like the paper clip sculpture
I’m working on. Gotta have priorities.
OT but what’s the deal with “Nazi-ism”?
Am I wallowing in the recency illusion here? Did people never say “Nazism”?
Naked bunny with a Whip- I dunno about Hovind, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did try to pull that argument.
“Tax Protestors” have a whole list of Moldy Oldies that they continually try to use to get out of their tax obligations. They never seem to notice that these bits of gobbledygook never work or that they’ve already been repeatedly laughed at by the courts. If you’re curious about these, have a look at Dab Evans’ Tax Protester FAQ.
Instead, they keep believing that if they can only recite exactly the right magic formula the little man from the IRS will stamp his foot and disappear like Rumplestiltzkin, in a puff of logic.
Whenever someone threatens to pray for me, I tell them “In the same vein, and with the same respect for your beliefs, I will reason for you.”
#25: SO Heaven is like the DMV and God is one of the civil servants working behind the counter? The more I learn about Heaven, the more glad I am I’m not going there.
#30: Tell me about it. However, I hear that the band there does play my favourite song. All night long, even.
Am I wallowing in the recency illusion here? Did people never say “Nazism”?
I never heard it pronouned with two syllables, but I’ve seen it spelled that way.
Yeah, looks like Hovind tried it too. Worked so well for him. x.x
http://tinyurl.com/6xwhn2
Once, because freshmen are not unlike rodents, I contracted something from one of them. I lost my voice and one of the members of Campus Crusade for Christ noticed, and asked if he could pray for me. I was like, “Yeah, fine, whatever.” I thought he would go home, or wherever, and pray for me. Really I thought he’d just pencil it in to his next scheduled conversation with the great imaginary sky fairy. Nope. He comes over, plops his hands down on me right there and starts praying loudly for the expulsion of my “sickness”.
The sad thing is that nobody around me thought it was weird. I’d feel a lot better if someone with a brain had seen that, and wouldn’t let me live it down.
This is Vox Day’s father, correct?
Too bad Clinton isn’t the President. That way he could pardon the guy just like he did for the tax cheat Mark Rich.
I just looked at VoxDay’s blog post about this, and so far there are 188 comments, and not a single one deviates from the “taxes are unjust, so convictions based on tax infractions are ridiculous and wrong.”
Not really surprised, but no one yet has brought up (trolled?) that there actually were real laws that support the foundation of government and society.
Oh well.
Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s… ;)
I’m not a Lionel Richie fan, but I suppose if I was trapped in the hellish limbo of the DMV and had to listen, I think I’d pray it would be “Dancing on the Ceiling” instead of “All Night Long.”
Seems there are a couple of “Render unto Caesars.”
How about “I’ll wish for you”? Same thing, only a bit more obviously BS, no?
I’ll pray for him, something along the lines of “Dear Jesus H. Crist, lord of the Zombies, please see to it that Robert Beale is Ass-Raped by a large black man with an equally large member”. Oh shit, forgot “Amen”. There we go, that ought to do it.
#16
One and the same according to this. http://tinyurl.com/5sfwxw
I want one to go along with a Jedi Knight certificate and online ordination from the Universal Life Church. http://tinyurl.com/yf5jtj
Don’t laugh, I was married by a Universal Life pastor in Minneapolis three years ago. He turned in a copy of the certificate 30 days before the wedding and was instantly legal, although he hasn’t tried parking in teh “clergy only” spots at the hospital yet.
#40: I like “I’ll mumble magic chants for you” myself, but I’ve only used it once so far.
“Seems there are a couple of “Render unto Caesars.”” You seem like a reasonable moderate. Please don’t tell me you are one of those Kingdom of Heaven separatists nut job. So no state and no taxes. Think about this one for a second before answering. What do you think would happen to Christianity if there was no state?
Paraphrasing Gavin DeBecker: When someone you don’t know or trust keeps saying “I promise”, he is almost assuredly unworthy of the trust on which he intends to draw.
I guess there should be a Myers corrollary: The louder or more insistently someone says “I love God” in public, the less likely he is to actually hold or act upon the beliefs to which he lays claim, and the the less worthy he is of any support based on such claims. (Perhaps they are unworthy of any support on such a basis, but that is what such people wish to gain.)
Stupidity and hypocrisy…they’re what’s for dinner.
And #44: I assumed the “render under Caesar” people weren’t disagreeing with taxation, but were highlighting Beale’s hypocrisy with the Biblical reference. Mr. Beale would be a better person to receive your question, though I doubt you would get either an honest or sensical answer. Maybe he can learn accounting in prison.
0.7 Tc.
“Maybe Beale will end up sharing a cell with Wesley Snipes, and they can write the plot of the next “Blade” movie, wherein Blade and Beale discover that the IRS is a vampire cabal, and bring the pain to the bloodsucking bean-counters, ushering in a Ron Paul Presidency.”
They could have Ben Stein present it, and call it a documentary.
But if you pray, don’t be as the hypocrites, who pray on street corners so as to be seen by men, but go into your room, shut the door…
It’s not exactly a new concept.
Why is so much of the good stuff in the Bible the stuff Christians never want to follow?
#49, Brownian
I don’t agree with 98.6 percent of what that book has to say, but you hit a beautiful chord with this one. Thank you. For whatever reasons, it helped me today.
Bob
Beale’s gonna FEEL THE POWER of “Bubba”, oh yeah! HALELUYAYA!!! Bubba’s gonna PRAISE DA LAWD for sendin’ him dis newbie cellmate and REPENT, yeah, verily REPENT and REPENT yet again. Praise Jesus in the cell next door, because he’s got Beale after Bubba’s done!! Halleluyaya!! By the time the HOLY SPIRIT gets him, it won’t be so exciting any more. Well, except for Beale, maybe. :)
I don’t have to be nice to Beale. I pay my taxes. He’s where he belongs. I only pray that he stays there.
I just looked at VoxDay’s blog post about this, and so far there are 188 comments, and not a single one deviates from the “taxes are unjust, so convictions based on tax infractions are ridiculous and wrong.”
I’ll wager 5 bucks they didn’t even notice the case against Wesley Snipes, and wouldn’t have commented on it even if they had:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/business/14tax.html
Thanks for the link about W. Snipes, Ichthyic.
Thanks for the link about W. Snipes, Ichthyic.
if you can stand spending time in the asylum known as Vox’s blog, feel free to smack them upside the head with it.
don’t be shocked if you only get rationalizations instead of responses, though.
#19
So I guess Jessica Beale will be returning for that movie, huh?
Actually, Vox did comment on Snipes. The arguments at Vox’s are about tax rates, not having to pay taxes.
Even Pharaoh had lower tax rates than the US govt.
Interesting how many people here support prison rape.
Am I the only person who considers it quite repulsive that whenever any news turns up about anyone getting sent to jail, for any reason whatsoever, *some* sod is going to turn up and express hope that the jailed person gets raped while there?
“When some one offers to pray for me, I usually tell them I will dance naked under the oaks on the next full moon for them.
Often the response is “What good will that do?”
Some day they will get the point.”
You mean the point that you’re a douchebag to people offerign to do something for you that they believe will have a positive impact on you? What do you say when you get a gift? “Suck my really small dick?”
Nix, no you’re not. And Kirk at #41 is an especially intelligent specimen.
Wow, the lack of grace and the downright mean spiritedness of the commenters here really speak volumes about the kind of life they’re leading. Yes, I will pray for Robert Beale, and I will pray for the lot of you too.
I am afraid I don’t understand, is there any particular reason why many of you are wishing ill of some bloggers’ father? What exactly did his father do to you to warrant such disdain? How would you like your kids classmates wishing you were sodomized in prison? Many of you may not believe in God, and that is okay with me. However, treating others as you would like to be treated is a rule of thumb that all peoples can follow.
I’ll pray for many of you too.
The whole rape-wish thing is very primitive. It’s about forced submission. The wish is that the reviled person be forced to submit to those males who are above him in the social heirachy, humiliated and subjugated in a manner our conscious minds are only peripherally aware of. Who among you would make a similar wish if the defendant was female? Society has come a good way towards completely rejecting the rape and abuse of women and children, but of men? Apparently not quite so far.
On another topic…
=8-O
Am I supposed to believe that dancing naked under the oaks during a full moon doesn’t work?
Crumb.
Vox Day and his father are repulsive and vile little men, but no one deserves to be raped, and the idea that it occurs on a regular basis in prison and should somehow be allowed to be part of someone’s punishment is repugnant.
On the other hand, I have no problem with wishing certain people to be frappéd–given a scoop of ice cream and metaphorically shaken up.
A scoop of vanilla has always had a rehabilitating effect on me.
I do not endorse this for lactose-intolerants though. That would fit the definition of cruel and unusual punishment.
…for the other people in the room, from my experience.
jeez, K…like my fantasy life isn’t rich enough already.
jeez, K…like my fantasy life isn’t rich enough already.
Hey, I didn’t bring it up! :-p
But in the interest of full disclosure, Sven – and I hate to do this to you – but if you saw me, you’d believe I could only be the work of an intelligent designer, one possessed of technical brilliance and blessed with aesthetic genius.
Unfortunately, you’d also conclude that his name was “Salvador Dali” and that he’d woken up on the wrong side of the bed that day…
I hope that helps.
“Wow, the lack of grace and the downright mean spiritedness of the commenters here really speak volumes about the kind of life they’re leading. Yes, I will pray for Robert Beale, and I will pray for the lot of you too.”
Posted by: Pablo | May 2, 2008 11:32 AM
Not paying your taxes makes me pay them for you. That’s incredibly lacking in grace and is also mean-spirited.
I’ve lived in Minnesota most of my life. Beale also didn’t pay Minnesota’s taxes. Maybe we could have maintained a few bridges with the money he didn’t pay.
Keep in mind, Beale didn’t pay taxes on his businesses’ PROFIT, not his “wages”.
Some of you anti-tax posters need a clue (or a job) very much.
I hope Bubba has fun. :)
Interesting how many people here support prison rape.
..and just when did you stop beating your wife, lamont?
What do you say when you get a gift? “Suck my really small dick?”
you mean when someone gives me an empty box and pretends it’s a gift?
yeah, suck my cock comes to mind alrighty.
get the fuck lost comes to mind, too.
I couldn’t have put it better myself, Ichthyic.
“Not paying your taxes makes me pay them for you. That’s incredibly lacking in grace and is also mean-spirited.”
Yes I’m sure the couple of extra cents you had to pitch in to cover Mr. Beale’s federal taxes really hurt. Think about how much each of the 150-200 million plus taxpayers in the US had to pay to cover the $ 1.6million they say Beale owed. Now I’m not saying that Beale shouldn’t have paid his taxes but if someone stole a couple of bucks from me I wouldn’t wish Bubba could have fun with them. So Beale isn’t the only one here showing lack of grace or mean spirtedness.
Well, Mr. Beale had more than enough money to leave the US if he believed the US tax rates are too high – he could have made a comfortable living in many places (I’m assuming Europe is out because of the higher tax rates). Alternatively, he could have fought like others to change the tax codes – he couldn’t do it on his own, but certainly could have helped. Instead, he decided that he didn’t have to pay for the benefits he wanted, behavior which would distinguish him from legitimate tax protestors but doesn’t distinguish him from the average thief. He just stole more, is all.
The prison rape bit is OTT – the only mitigation is that it is culturally ingrained (and thus the first gut instinct when someone you despise is caught committing crimes). We may also be mapping his son’s beliefs onto him (I don’t know if he shares them or not) which doesn’t help people to feel any sympathy for Mr. Beale – if he did share those beliefs, he would also be a substantial hypocrite.
The IRS estimates that it is getting roughly $400B less than it should, caused in part by tax evasion. I know that no gov’t agency says that it’s receiving its due, but I’m wondering what we could do $400B/year, or what costs we might save our descendants if we were actually paying what we should.
Maybe he would have paid his taxes if someone reminded him of the essential public services they are necessary for.
“Now I’m not saying that Beale shouldn’t have paid his taxes but if someone stole a couple of bucks from me I wouldn’t wish Bubba could have fun with them. So Beale isn’t the only one here showing lack of grace or mean spirtedness.”
You and I are different. Thieves go to prison because that’s where they belong. Everyone knows what goes on there. Being an apologist for thievery puts one on some pretty shaky moral ground, doncha think?
Excellent point, TGGP. One can ponder just how much of the more than $6,000,000.00 in profit that Mr. Beale made was due directly to the services he didn’t help to pay for.
jeffox backtrollin,sorry but someone that suggests a certain person should go to jail where he can get what is coming to him, prison rape, is the one on shaky moral ground, doncha think? Nowhere in my response did I say anything about Beale getting away with anything. I didn’t say thieves shouldn’t go to jail. Read a little more carefully next time.
JCW did spew:
“jeffox backtrollin,sorry but someone that suggests a certain person should go to jail where he can get what is coming to him, prison rape, is the one on shaky moral ground, doncha think?”
No, that someone is only being realistic. Doncha think? Oh, and keep in mind that gloating (which is what I did and, apparently, what you are really having a problem with) might be petty, but is neither immoral nor unexpected here.
Also:
“Nowhere in my response did I say anything about Beale getting away with anything. I didn’t say thieves shouldn’t go to jail.”
I didn’t write that you did. You wrote an opinion based on an apologist’s position for his obvious criminal activity (in that YOU weren’t bothered by his tax evasion – to the point of questioning why I was). Again, that’s very shaky moral ground, doncha think?
And one last shot:
“Read a little more carefully next time.”
I agree. You should. :)
Backing up my previous point is Ben Metcalfe in Harper’s.
jeffox backtrollin,
You and I are not alike. You think hoping someone gets prison raped is gloating, I disagree. You think someone that puts in perspective the amount of money Mr. Beale stole from you is an apologist for thievery on shaky moral ground, I don’t. You think that someone that responds to you in kind is spewing, you may be right on that one.
Your explanations were enlightening and I now know where you’re coming from. I’m just glad I’m not so bitter.
JCW, I already addressed your salient points. My reasoning hasn’t changed.
“I’m just glad I’m not so bitter.”
(The fox rubs his forepaws together) JCW, do you know what I’m doing? :) I’m rubbing together two tiny sticks to generate the world’s smallest spark of compassion for you.
Enjoy that thought. :) :) :)